Junction 42 is an established charity which exists to see the lives of offenders and their communities visibly transformed by the hope of the Gospel through faith in Jesus Christ. Their mission statement is taken from the Old Testament book Isaiah Chapter 42 verse 7 “to free captives form prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness”.

It began in 2012 through their director Joanne O’Connor who had started the work in HMP/YOI Low Newton doing both chaplaincy and education provision, working initially for Youth for Christ back in 2000. As the Entrepreneurial work grew and prison work became more adult focused, Junction 42 was born.

I’ve known Joanne and her husband John for almost 20 years. When John, who had been a drug addict, met Joanne and they planned to get married, my wife Susan and I did their marriage preparation. Since then we have remained close friends and have closely followed and supported their prison work. In the past couple of years Susan and I have delivered workshops teaching portraiture in Low Newton prison to the young women there.

Junction 42 also delivers art and music related projects and Entrepreneurial Training courses in prisons to equip individuals in custody to take ownership of their employment situation upon release. This can be through setting up their own business using the skills learned in this course or by using the confidence gained form doing the course to make them better candidates in job applications. You can read a report on their Entrepreneurial work delivered in prisons.

The DWP refers offenders to Junction 42 to receive 1-2-1 Mentoring and/or attendance to their CAP Job Club to help them develop an action plan to rebuild their lives and to engage in the community in a positive way to dramatically reduce the likelihood of re-offending.

Another point of help for the ex offenders is Connect, a Christian group who meet at St Luke’s Church on Claremont Road in Newcastle on a Tuesday night. This provides an opportunity for them to find out about Christianity through Alpha Courses and friendship with christians.

As a means of raising support and awareness of Junction 42 I’m going to do a zip wire challenge from the Tyne Bridge on Sunday 15th April at 1pm. Two years ago a team of staff from Junction 42 did a zip wire from the Tyne Bridge and raised £5,000 between them.

If you would like to find out more about Junction 42 then Susan and I would love to see you at our Spring Exhibition at our Studio & Gallery in Ponteland which runs throughout April.

You can make a donation via MyDonate which will be very much appreciated.

Our new Spring Exhibition started on 31st March 2018 and continues until 30th April. I use the word “Spring” lightly as it’s snowing outside as I’m writing this blog post.

Due to the wintery conditions we have been experiencing since 2017 there is a snowy theme going on in this latest body of work. However there are some new cheery paintings on view. Please feel free to call us on 01661 871800 to arrange a viewing in a relaxed atmosphere.

The latest painting off the drawing board is “North Shields Fish Quay”. It’s a scene I first painted in 1985 for a client who commissioned a couple of River Tyne pictures. You can read about the other painting on a recent blog post about the River Tyne Painting.

This new watercolour depicts fishing trawlers bathed in late afternoon sunlight. In the distance you can see the old Port of Tyne buildings, some of which have long since gone. Fluid brush marks for the reflected light in the water and the soft edges for the engine smoke belching out of the trawlers help to keep the overall scene lively and free.

Balevullin Beach, Tiree

Another new painting is Balevullin Beach on the island of Tiree, one of the Inner Hebrides. On a recent blog post you can read about our trip there last May where I painted a number of watercolours on location. This oil has been inspired by those studies, including a small watercolour available online.

Balevullin Beach is popular with surfers who take advantage of the waves rolling in from the Atlantic Ocean. The turquoise sea and dramatic skies are a delight to paint.

We enjoyed mixed weather. Heavy rain followed by bright sunshine and wonderful sunsets was the pattern for each day.

Todi, Umbria

Todi in Umbria points us towards the finer weather to come and our Painting Holiday in June. You can watch a video on YouTube of how I used a number of sketches painted on location to produce this A4 watercolour painted on hand made paper.

Our Spring Exhibition continues throughout April however there are a few days when we will be closed so it is best to call us on 01661 871 800 to make sure we are open before setting out.

Florence is possibly my favourite Italian city. I’ve been fortunate to travel there several time since my first visit back in 1998 when I sat on one of its bridges under the warm autumnal sun and painted a watercolour of Ponte Vecchio in an Arches Watercolour Block.

During my last visit there in 2011 I did a small sketchbook study of Ponte Vecchio from Piazza Michelangelo, a view which I’ve also reproduced as a very popular limited edition print.

This new original watercolour takes elements from the sketchbook study which I painted on location to depict the famous bridge stretching over the River Arno and the surrounding buildings.

Some of the links on this post are affiliate links to products which I personally use available from Amazon. If you click on the links and buy any of these products then I will receive a small percentage of the sale from Amazon at no extra cost to yourself.

In my previous post I described how I went to the National Gallery in Edinburgh to see Auguste Rodin’s famous marble sculpture “The Kiss” in March. I made a couple of sketchbook studies in charcoal then an A6 watercolour. After analysing my studies, I decided to do a 14″ x 10″ watercolour of The Kiss in the studio which came out really well.

I’ve since produced a larger 29″ x 20″ original watercolour of The Kiss which has been reproduced as a limited edition giclee print available in three sizes.

The painting forms part of my Spring Exhibition at my Studio & Gallery in Ponteland which is on until Sunday 28th April. The first copy has already been sold. Whilst I was doing this painting, I was photographed by a street photographer called Victor Adams. Check out his blog here.

In February 1999 Susan and I spent a week in Italy, taking in Florence and the Venetian Carnevale. During our stay in Florence we took the rewarding walk leading up to Piazza Michelangelo which boasts majestic views over this fine city of art and culture. I recall walking a little further on to the church of San Miniato where I did a small 7 ” x 5″ watercolour of the Duomo dwarfing the smaller surrounding buildings in the watery winter sunlight.

I used this study to do a slightly larger watercolour which has been reproduced as a successful limited edition print and is still available online. Recently I was doing a watercolour demonstration for an art group in Rothbury and decided to tackle this same scene of Florence to show the students how to approach painting a cityscape. I still have the original location study framed up and hanging in our living room, so I had the reference fresh in my mind whilst painting this new rendition.

It’s impossible to paint the same subject in watercolour in exactly the same manner and technique which I use. This means that each painting has its own unique differences. Both the original watercolour and print will be on view at my Spring exhibition which starts 10th March-31st March at my Studio & Galleryin Ponteland.

For those of you who have perhaps stumbled upon my bog and are not on our database, my Spring Exhibition starts on the 10th March at my Studio & Gallery at 17 Cheviot View in Ponteland. If you would like to start receiving postal invitations then please contact me on alan@alanreed.com or telephone 01661 871 800 or 0771 874 1546.

The exhibition continues until the 31st March and features new original paintings of the North East, Italy and the Gulf. I’ve published a new limited edition print titled “Grey Street,Snow Shower” which can be purchased at the Gallery or online at www.alanreed.com. There will also be a number of portraits on view too.